MARIN COUNTY (KCBS)— A Marin County beach has earned the dubious distinction of being named the dirtiest in the Bay Area.

The Natural Resources Defense Council looked at 3,500 beaches across the country, including here in the Bay Area and found McNears Beach, which sits on San Rafael’s eastern edge at San Pablo Bay, frequently tested positive for high bacteria levels.

“They’ve looked at the sewage system and tried to find if there would leaky sewer pipes there. They say it could be from boats and people failing to properly pump out their waste from their boats,” said NRDC water program director Steve Fleischli.

Environmental Group Names Bay Area’s ‘Dirtiest’ Beach

He added that McNears Beach stood out.

“About 32 percent of the water-quality samples taken in 2013 exceeded the safe to swim levels,” Fleischli said.

The calm and shallow water at McNears could be stagnant and lack the bacteria-clearing circulation that is found in the open ocean, according to Fleischli.

Melissa Culross had intended to become a novelist but was side-lined by radio during her college years.
After graduating from Brown University with a degree in English and American literature in 1992, Melissa worked as a radio disc jockey, news...